Water-level indicator.



PATENTED AUG. 21, 1906.

L. KJERULFF. WATER LEVEL INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULYB. 19051 1a 3 0 MM M m w a l UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Augffll, 1906.

Applloationfllod July 6,1905. Serial NDJBBAM.

To aLZ whom it (may concern.

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE KJERULFF,

a citizen of the United'Statcs, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Water-Level Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to water-level indienters, and is dcsi nod for use in connection with reservoirs, la es, rivers, &c., for the purpose of automatically indicating the'depth of the body of water irrespective of the distance of the indicator from such body of water.

The object of the invention is to produce an efficient and reliable apparatus which utilizes the bod of water as one of the conductors in an e ectric circuit in such a manner that as the water-level rises and falls resistance is cut out of or into the circuit, this variation in current strength being disclosed by an ammeter to the engineer in charge.

To this end the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and or anization, as hereinafter described and c aimed, and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of a reservoir equipped with an electric apparatus for indicating the depth of the water in such reservoir. Fig. 2 is a face view of the plate for carrying the resistance-coil.

In the said drawings, 1 indicates the reservoir, and 2 a plate extending from the top to the bottom of the reservoir and with 'indicia 3 to indicate the dept of water, though this indicia has no real bearing on the invention forming the subject-matter of this application.

4 indicates plates secured to and insulated, seat 5, from plate 2 at the lower and upper ends of the latter, and 6 indicates lugs pro ecting from said plates, the lower lug carr ing a pin 7, grounded through the water and t e reservoir supply-pi c (not shown) or through the body of water i the latter be a lake or river or equivalent body of water. nection it should be stated that plate 2 is not indispensable, as the lugs or supports 6 may be attached to the supports of a bridge-pier or any other structure in the water instead of being attached to the reservoir.

8 is a pin secured to the In 6 of the upper plate 4, and 9 a conductor 0 lower conducrovided In this contivity than the water and secured at its opposite ends to pins 7 and 8. r

' 10 is a conductor leading from pin 8 to the ammeter 1 1 of any suitable character located in the oflice of the engineer or other erson in control of the waterworks plant. 'rom the ammeter a conductor 12 leads through a safet -fuse 13 to break the circuit in the case of a angerouslyhigh current and an electric switch 14 to a dynamo or other source of elec tric supply 15, saiddynamo or other source of electric sup ly being grounded by a conductor l6. ow when the circuit is, completed by throwing the switch to the position indicated by dotted lines, Fig. 1, the current asses from the dynamo through the switch, use, ammeter, conductor 10, and pin 8 to the relatively poor conductor 9, which is preferably in the form of a resistance-coil to allow for expansion and contraction. The current passes down said coil until it reaches the level of the Water and then passes through the water, because it offers less resistance than the submerged portion of conductor 9. It then passes to ground and from the ground through conductor 16 to the negative pole of the dynamo.

When there is no current through the ammeter-efor instance, when the circuit is broken by the switch-the index-finger of the indicia registers with 0. When said switch is in operative position, the resistance in the path of the current offered, chiefly the unsubmerged ortion of coil 9, causes the index-finger of tlie ammeter to move and indicate by its new position the depth of the body of water, the index-finger increasing its distance from its initial point as the water-level falls and uncovers a greater portion of the conductor 9. This results in introducing a greater resistance in the path of the current, and consequently in reducing in that proportion the strength of the current. ter-level rises the reverse is trues-that is to say, the resistance in the path of the current is diminished and the index-finger of the am- Ineter consequently moves toward its initial position.

An a paratus of this character for reliably indicating the depth of the water will prove not only convenient in cities where the Waterreservoirs are located at, a comparatively great distance from the power plant or engineers office and avoid the necessity which now exists in many plants of sending inspec- As the wa- 5 so that precautions may be taken to reduce the loss incident to such floods as far as possible. It will prove of practical value not only in the locality where the electric indicator is in service, but to the districts at a remote dis- :0 tance, as authorities in char e of the apparatus may thereby be enable to telegra h to the remote places liable to be afiecte and thus enable them to take precautionary steFs. I5 mm the above description it will be apparent that I have produced an electric water-level indicator possessing the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the object of invention and ad which obviously may be modified in some particulars without departin from the principle of construction involved.

Having thus describedthe invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is n An a paratus for indicating the height of a body 0 water consistingiof insulated lugs secured respectively at t e bed of the water and abovethe same, pins carried by said lugs, a resistance-coilsecured to and extending between the said pins, a grounded generator, a meter, and electrical connections between the generator and the meter, and between the meter and the'upper in.

In testimony whereof afiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

. LAWRENCE KJERULFF. Witnesses:

' H. 0. Rononns,

G. Y. THOBPE. 

